


Ashes, Ashes

by Pegasister60



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Alternate Universe - Quirks (My Hero Academia), Angst, Animal Death, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Danganronpa Spoilers, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Immorality, Mental Breakdown, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Quirk Au, Rebirth, Temporary Character Death, Trial 6 spoilers, art included, makoto is baby, phoenix au, there’s more angst than anything else
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-30
Updated: 2019-11-30
Packaged: 2021-02-26 17:41:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,578
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21612376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pegasister60/pseuds/Pegasister60
Summary: Spoilers for Chapter 6It all went so wrong. It was her fault for failing to see the trap. Now her closest ally—friend—was being dragged away by a cruel metal claw.—It felt warm but cold and painful while numb and strange yet right andw h e r e  w a s  h e?Too much, not enough. Can’t feel, don’t stop. Where is that coming from? Oh, he’s sneezing now.
Relationships: Asahina Aoi & Naegi Makoto, Kirigiri Kyoko & Naegi Makoto, Kirigiri Kyoko/Naegi Makoto
Comments: 10
Kudos: 79





	1. Rebirth

**Author's Note:**

> I have so much of this written already so expect an update dump then radio silence while I continue it.

They watched as the luckster was dragged away for his execution. His confession came as a surprise, but the mastermind left them no time to question him. They had to vote.

They could do nothing as the bear shoved him into a barrel and held a sword high above its head. The sword pierced the barrel. Then another followed suit. A small camera inside of the barrel showed that neither of them were close to touching him. The third sword struck true; his body doubled over as the blade pierced his stomach.

The spectacle continued as more and more swords met resistance as they entered. One went from one end of the barrel to the other, slitting his throat as it went.

The execution ended as swiftly as it had begun. The Monokuma began pulling the swords from the barrel, and turned to carry them off-stage.

Then the barrel burst into flames.

The barrel, and everything in it, was consumed by flames. Judging by the bear’s panicked reaction, this was not planned. That meant only one thing: it was Naegi’s quirk.

The luckster had the misfortune of possessing an invisible quirk, or something close to it. His mother had a Canary mutation and his father could produce flames from his skin. Naegi showed no signs of a bird mutation (his bones weren’t hollow, he had no feathers, and his limbs seemed perfectly human) so his parents prepared for a fire quirk. After learning that his quirk was either insignificant or had an uncommon trigger, his parents decided to fireproof everything he owned as a precaution.

That is why no one was surprised when all that remained after Naegi’s spontaneous combustion was his clothing and a pile of ashes.

They were surprised when something shifted and sneezed inside of the pile. The monokuma that was still on the stage inched closer and nearly toppled backwards when a head of brown hair popped out of the hoodie’s neckline. Wide green eyes darted back and forth as the child surveyed its surroundings. When it caught sight of the Monokuma standing less than five feet away, it startled and scrambled away from it.

([Art](https://pegasister60.tumblr.com/post/189392033009/some-art-for-chapter-1-of-my-fic-ashes-ashes))

That was when they saw his wings. The wings seemed to go down to his knees when folded. They were composed of feathers that seemed to be every hue and shade of red, orange, and yellow. The wings strained against the hoodie that held them as Naegi tried to get away. The Monokuma seemed to think on it before simply watching the child escape.

With that, the curtains closed and the group finished processing what they saw.

“I’m not tripping, right? We just saw Naegi-chi die!” Hiro exclaimed.

“W-w-what kind of quirk is that?” Fukawa asked, clearly shaken.

“Judging by the wings and flames, I’d say it’s a Phoenix quirk.” Kirigiri concluded.

Before any more comments could be made, a hidden door slid open on the wall. A tiny, feathered blur raced towards them.

Kirigiri nearly fell over when Naegi hugged her. His tiny arms wrapped around her waist and hugged her close.

“Kyo-chan!”

Up close he looked even smaller, around five years old. No one knew how to handle the situation, Kirigiri standing stiff in his embrace.

“I thought he was gonna hurt you!” Naegi exclaimed, on the verge of tears.

His tone clearly sparked something in Hina since she approached the duo. She crouched close to them and was unfazed when Naegi’s wings tried to cover them both protectively.

“Naegi-chan, it’s okay now. Kirigiri-san’s not going anywhere.”

A sniffle. “But what if they try to take her away? It hurts real bad!” His grip tightened in tandem with the grip on their hearts as the implications sank in.

He remembered dying.

Hina kept it together enough to reply, “we won’t let that happen.”

“Promise?”

The question was asked with tear-filled eyes and uncertainty. Hina couldn’t deny him that if she tried.

She stuck her pinky out and did her best to smile for him.

“Pinky promise.”

His expression was conflicted as he looked between the outstretched hand and the skirt he was clutching. He very slowly reached out with his right hand and sealed the promise.

Almost immediately he let go of Kirigiri’s skirt and shot into Hina’s open arms. She was careful of his wings as she held him at her hip. Said wings fluttered a bit as their owner was lifted off the ground before tucking themselves against his back.

Naegi pressed his head to her chest, mindful of her gills, and looked around at the others. He fidgeted with the sleeves of his now oversized hoodie as the others stared back.

Surprisingly, it was Fukawa who broke the silence.

“Are y-you okay?” She asked in a soft tone they had never heard her use.

Naegi blinked. He looked at himself, looked at the curtains, then looked at her.

“I’m really hungry.”

It was clear that that wasn’t all there was to it, but Kirigiri was willing to put off asking loaded questions just this once.

“Let’s get you something to eat then,” she stated before walking towards the elevator. Hina quickly followed.

Once in the elevator, Togami finally spoke.

“Are we really just going to take a lunch break after what just happened? Is no one else going to ask how this plebeian managed to cheat death?”

“What good would it do to ask questions we know he doesn’t have the answers to?” Kirigiri asked simply.

“It’s important to ask questions about life and death in a killing game. I’m surprised you haven’t interrogated him yet.”

“Forgive me for having tact.”

The reply was as flat as always, but that didn’t hinder her statement’s effects in any way.

The elevator’s occupants were saved from any escalation when the door opened and Hina sped out into the hall.

She was the first to arrive in the Dining Hall and set Naegi down in a chair at the main table. She hadn’t realized how warm he was until she let him go and shivered at the abrupt change in temperature.

When the others arrived they found Naegi removing his blazer and rolling up his hoodie and pants sleeves. He looked adorable in the loose fitting clothes as he kicked his feet a little. At that point they realized why Hina had picked him up besides comfort, he had lost his shoes at some point and was wearing socks that were too big.

The swimmer came back with a cheese sandwich and a cup of juice. As soon as Naegi grabbed a sandwich half, it seemed to vanish into his mouth. The second half was finished just as quickly. The glass was only half emptied before he seemed to realize he’d forgotten to say a prayer. There was barely a second of deliberation before he finished the juice anyways.

By this point everyone else had seated themselves at the table. Naegi turned to Kirigiri expectantly.

She took that as her cue to ask “what can you tell us about your quirk?”

“It really hurt when I got it. Like I had cuts all over my body and someone put alcohol in ‘em.”

“What happened after the pain?”

“I felt really warm. I still feel really warm. Oh, and I felt my feathers on my back!”

“Can you move your wings for me?”

He paused for a moment and twitched his right arm before twitching his right wing. After another moment he spread them both as far as his hoodie would allow.

“It feels weird when I move ‘em. They’re really light too, I thought they’d be heavier.”

“You thought they’d be heavier?”

“When I went to the doctor he told me my bones were normal. Mama said they checked ‘cause birds have empty bones, but I still thought my wings would be heavy if I got them. Mama’s wings just look so big!”

“How long ago was this?”

“A looong time ago!”

“Is wearing your hoodie uncomfortable?”

“A little, it’s got a bunch of holes in it now.”

“Is there anything else you think we should know?”

At that Naegi looked very serious. He sat up straighter and his wings folded themselves in. He slammed his hands onto the table and scooted his chair back a bit in the process.

“Yeah, Monokuma _cheated_!”

His loud declaration was not what they were expecting.

They also weren’t expecting the bear to respond to the accusation.

“Oh, how so?”

Naegi’s wings puffed up when he jumped and swiveled around to look at the robot. The luckster seemed nervous, and understandably so, but held his ground as he stood to face the bear.

“None of that trial was fair! You never pushed for a verdict before. There was never a limit on trial time, only investigations. You _cheated_!”

The word was said like a swear. It had the same effect with how scandalized the bear looked.

“How dare you accuse your gracious headmaster of cheating? And after I let you off with a slap on the wrist, too.”

“That’s another thing!”

Any anxiety present before was long gone, the winged child stared down the literal time bomb with fearless eyes.

“You punished someone who didn’t do anything wrong. I played by all your rules, solved every case, and you killed me anyways!”

“Are you saying you lied about your guilt?”

Naegi froze. The bear’s left eye gleamed dangerously as it took a step forward.

“N-no, of course not. I didn’t lie!” Naegi hastily backpedaled, eyes wide as he took a step back.

“Oh, good. I thought I was going to have to fix a mistake.” The bear tilted its head in Kirigiri’s direction in a not-so-subtle way. “Glad I won’t have to make any corrections.”

Any courage Naegi had was gone at the silent threat. His demeanor went from angry to frightened. He looked like he wanted to say something, but he kept his head down.

“You should know better than to make baseless accusations, _kid_. You’re _lucky_ your headmaster is so forgiving and kind.”

And with that, he left. And Naegi immediately ran to Kirigiri’s chair to hug her.

He whispered a mantra of “I’m sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I’m sorry.”

She was more prepared this time. She rested a gloved hand on his head and murmured reassurances. It was the kindest the others had ever seen her, but Naegi still cried.

“I was stupid, I’m sorry I was stupid, I’ll try not to be stupid.”

“It’s not your fault. You did everything right. We’ll find a way.”

The normally blank-faced girl ran her hand through his hair and noted how he almost melted into the touch. His trembling slowed and soft sniffles replaced quiet sobs.

Half of the students there were uncomfortable at the sight of a crying child while the other half’s hearts ached.

Hina got up and went to touch his shoulder gently.

“I think you should get some sleep, you’ve been through a lot.”

“But I don’t like my room.”

The confession was enough to shift the group's concerns.

“Why don’t you like your room?” Kirigiri asked.

“I get nightmares, sometimes when I’m still awake. That’s not even fair!”

Everyone else froze.

“Naegi-kun,” Kirigiri started, “How long have you been having these nightmares for?”

He seemed hesitant to answer, but that was an answer in and of itself.

“A few weeks now.” He hesitated again. “And I don’t use my shower. I use the bathhouse ‘cause the nightmares get worse if I open the bathroom door.”

Hina had heard enough. “You can take a nap in my room, so I can keep away the nightmares.”

Before he could reply or protest, she scooped him up. He let out a small squawk before clinging to her.

“Hina-chan!”

He only got that far before she took off in the direction of the dorms.

When the others caught up they saw a towel dropped onto the floor next to a drawstring bag at the foot of the bed. The room itself was filled with exercise and swimming equipment. The first-aid kit was a bit of a surprise but not completely unexpected.

Naegi’s hoodie and socks were in a pile on the floor, along with the backpack from his room where he kept all his random junk. Hina emerged from the closet with a stuffed dolphin that was half Naegi’s size. His eyes seemed to sparkle when he saw it and he immediately hugged it close to his chest.

Hina waited for him to adjust himself. He seemed to struggle to find a position that would work with his wings before settling on sleeping on his side. He looked up at her as she tucked him in.

“Are you sure this is okay?”

Hina pushed his fringe to one side and kissed his forehead. Sitting on the bed beside him, she smiled reassuringly and started humming.

She threaded her fingers through his hair and lightly grazed his scalp with her fingernails. His eyes started to drift shut and he let out a soft coo at the touch.

His breathing slowed and his body relaxed. Eventually Hina stopped for a moment and stifled a laugh at the tiny whine when she did so.

When she was sure he was asleep she carefully shifted her weight off the bed bit by bit so she wouldn’t wake him. She padded across the room silently before shooing the others out of her door. She left the door slightly ajar and turned to the others.

“How are you so good with kids?” Hiro asked quietly.

“I have a little brother. Whenever he had trouble sleeping he’d ask me to tuck him in. Plus I’d babysit my neighbor’s twins from time to time.”

The memories were a bittersweet reminder of what waited for her outside.

“What are w-w-we going to do?” Fukawa asked, “Are we going to t-t-take care of a l-l-little kid from now on?”

“We know very little about his quirk. It’s possible he’ll age at a faster rate to get back to his actual age, but he could also age normally or even stay this age forever. One thing that’s become clear is that, while he remembers everything before his death, he seems to have the mindset of a child.

“His vocabulary, actions, and mannerisms are all childish. He doesn’t object to being treated like a child, which makes the situation a lot simpler than it could have been.”

Kirigiri’s deductions made sense. The only thing left to discuss was what to do over the trial itself. Naegi had a point: the mastermind was clearly trying to force their hands for one reason or another.

Togami, and Hiro ironically enough, felt that they should continue with Naegi’s approach and challenge the mastermind.

Kirigiri and Fukawa felt that they should wait for things to settle a bit more and do some more digging before making any plays.

Hina was trying to be impartial, and argued that regardless of what they did they had to think about Naegi.

In the end they were at an impasse, and Hina went back into her room to watch over the luckster like she promised.


	2. Recall

About three hours later, Naegi woke from his nap warm, rested, and content. 

During his nap, Hina left once to get some clothes from the storage room that were as close to his size as possible. She then set out to make them more wing-friendly. 

With her sewing kit and a whole lot of trial and error, she ended up creating four outfits for him to wear. Each outfit had two slits for his wings to slip through and was made from fireproof material.

The first was a pair of baby blue pajamas. The second was a grey t-shirt with a red star on the front that was paired with a pair of green shorts. The third was a hoodie-shirt-shorts combo that matched his old outfit as closely as possible. The hoodie was pastel green, the shirt was plain white, and the shorts were black. The fourth outfit was a pair of jeans and a long sleeve shirt with constellations printed on it. 

She found socks, but the shoes had to wait until he woke up so he could try them on. 

Naegi sat up in bed and stretched, his wings straining against his shirt as they tried to stretch with him. He heard someone scoot a chair back and jolted.

He saw who it was and relaxed, hugging the dolphin closer unconsciously. Hina thought he looked adorable with his sleepy smile. 

“Did you sleep well?”

“Mhmm, Flip is so soft!” 

Hina tried not to squeal when she heard the name he gave the toy. She mostly succeeded.

“Look at what I’ve got,” Hina said as she reached for the first stack of clothes she could reach.

Naegi shuffled off the bed and reached out to grab them. He was confused about what made the clothes special until he turned the shirt around. 

He threw off his old shirt and slipped on the grey one, taking care to slip his wings through the slits. The slits gave him just enough room to push his wings through, but we’re thin enough to not expose his back noticeably.

Hina was soon being hugged by a warm bird boy. He cooed and thanked her until she told him she made more.

After seeing him try on the shirts, Hina was reminded that Naegi was literally lying in his own ashes a few hours ago.

It was bath time.

She half-expected a fight or some whining when she suggested that he take a bath. She was pleasantly surprised when he practically dashed to the door and bounced in place waiting for her. His wings, now free from their prison, we’re fluttering slightly to mirror his excitement.

She grabbed the rest of his outfit and opened the door, keeping up with him as he sped to the bathhouse.

Once there she put his clothes in a locker, lingering for just a moment to remember Alter Ego, and waited for him to undress. 

Neither of them thought it was weird. Hina had bathed children before and Naegi got over his shyness pretty quickly. Hina took her shoes off and snatched a towel from a rack at the last second before following him in.

Naegi sat on a stool while Hina rinsed him with the shower head. He closed his eyes as she washed his hair. She handed him the soap and let him wash himself for the most part, though she was still the one who held the shower head and used the water bucket.

Then came the wings. 

Hina had never bathed a bird or taken care of a kid with wings before. Luckily, Naegi’s mother had explained more than enough about using and caring for wings to both of her children. They gently rinsed his wings with the shower head and checked for anything that might’ve gotten stuck to his feathers.

After that, Naegi was given the okay to climb into the bath. He swam for a bit and splashed around with his wings while Hina acted as a lifeguard.

At some point Fukawa and Kirigiri came in looking for them.

“Th-there you are!”

“We were concerned when we found your room empty.” Kirigiri explained.

“Sorry we worried you, I just thought-”

Hina didn’t finish her sentence because a tiny splash of water hit her leg.

She turned to find Naegi had accidentally raised one of his wings too quickly and sent water over the edge of the bath. At least, she thought it was an accident. She was proven wrong when he purposefully raised his other wing to splash her other leg. 

“So that’s how you wanna play?” Hina asked with playful anger. 

Naegi let out a squeak when she crouched by the water’s edge and splashed him with both her hands. He used one of his wings as a shield and cupped water in both of his hands to retaliate. 

([Art](https://pegasister60.tumblr.com/post/187675384299/the-same-au-as-this-post-i-love-it-so-much-he-is))  
  


The two giggled as they splashed each other. The literary girl and detective sighed and rolled their eyes respectively. 

“I think that’s enough bath time for you!”

Naegi pouted, but swam to the edge of the water anyways. He hesitated by the edge and blushed as he looked at the girls who walked in.

“Uh, Hina-chan…” 

“Wha- oh, yeah I get you,” Hina said as she realized what had him so flustered.

She left the towel at the edge of the pool and looked at the other two girls.

“Can you turn around for a sec?”

The realization hit and both girls turned around as the sound of splashing water and a ruffling towel came from behind them.

After another few seconds, Hina walked into their field of vision with Naegi trailing behind her wearing the towel. 

Naegi dressed himself quickly before the other two girls could see. After he put the socks on, they realized that he still didn’t have shoes. A quick trip to the storage room resulted in shoes that were the perfect size, which was a little odd but gift horses and all that.

With Naegi’s wardrobe settled, the group wasn’t exactly sure what to do next. Thankfully the answer came when Hiro walked out of his room holding crayons, pastels, markers, and paper.

In a matter of minutes, the clairvoyant, luckster, and swimmer were settled at a table in the library while the others spoke in the archives.

“Regardless of how we choose to proceed, we should be cautious in our approach,” Kirigiri stated.

“If there was one thing that came out of that confrontation from earlier, it’s that the birdbrain was onto something. Why else would the mastermind be so quick to shut him down?” Togami leaned against the wall by the door, which wasn’t completely shut.

“Obviously they care about their r-rules, but how is that going to h-help us?”

“It gives us a way to challenge them. They made no move to deny Naegi’s claims and instead used threats to steer him away from any conclusions.”

Togami recalled something and asked, “What exactly was he threatening Naegi with, anyways? They seemed deliberately vague on that front.”

“I thought their intentions were clear. The trap they laid with the murder was meant to close on me. Without Naegi’s self-sacrifice, you all clearly would’ve voted for me and played right into the mastermind’s hands. But even then, we’re not in the clear. Had Naegi risen to the bait earlier, the mastermind could’ve executed us all on the grounds of having picked the wrong blackened. We’re on thin ice.”

The other two absorbed Kirigiri’s explanation. The situation was complex in ways that only further damned them.

They were startled by the raising of voices coming from the other room. Togami pushes open the door to find a frustrated Naegi pointing at his drawings.

“I’m not lying! Muku-chan is real!”

“What’s going on here?” Kirigiri asked.

Naegi seemed relieved to see her as she approached the table on the far side of the room. She realized that the drawings were of people, specifically their classmates. The style was a little cartoonish but ultimately looked like it’d been drawn by someone older than five years old.

The drawing in question that was being indicated had three people in it: a purple-haired girl in a nurse’s outfit, a dark-haired girl wearing duller colors, and what looked like Enoshima Junko.

“Hina-chan doesn’t think Muku-chan is real!” Naegi stated loudly. He was standing up, feathers ruffled, and red in the face from outrage.

In other words, he was throwing a tantrum.

Had this been about anything else, Kirigiri would’ve trusted Hina to settle the issue and calm him down. She wasn’t the best with kids after all. However, the image bore a striking resemblance to the student profile she had recently uncovered.

A profile she had yet to show Naegi.

“Why doesn’t she believe you?” Kirigiri asked, clearly entering investigation mode as she pulled out a chair to sit down.

Upon realizing that she was going to take him seriously, Naegi calmed down and did the same. He spoke as he would have during a trial, which was enough to get everyone’s attention.

“Hina thinks that I made her up because she doesn’t remember her. Then she lied and said she did, but she doesn’t even know her name! And on top of that, she said I drew Enoshima wrong.”

Upon hearing the fashionista’s name, Kirigiri took another look at the drawing and took note of its defining features. The model had clear skin, a fur coat, and blue eyes.

None of which matched her appearance during her time here.

“Would you be willing to draw more pictures of the two of them to help set the record straight?” She asked in an attempt to stop the swimmer and luckster from going in circles again.

He brightened at the chance to prove his point and pulled the pastels closer.

The others sat down and watched as Naegi made a sketch of their faces in pencil before erasing his marks and adding more detail. When he was satisfied with the outlines he chose pallets for each girl. Muku-chan’s was consistent with the other one and consisted of greys, greens, and blacks. Enoshima’s was filled with bright colors like blue, yellow, and pink.

On another sheet of paper he tested the colors before he practiced blending. The entire process was more meticulous than she expected it to be and she was a little impressed by the lengths he was willing to go to to prove this girl’s existence.

He started with the mystery girl and layered the oil pastels to give the girl a pale complexion. He then went back to give her freckles and color in her lips with a color as close to nude as he could get. He used grey, grey-green, and white to create the shade for her eyes. He did quite a bit of blending there before he seemed satisfied. He was hesitant as he filled in her eyebrows, as if he was trying to remember what they looked like. Lastly he used black to do her hair, even going back with grey to add highlights.

After completing his picture he set it aside and prepared to draw Enoshima. The process went by faster than it did with the first drawing, if only because there were fewer details to add in.

He gave her the default skin tone from the kit before adding the slightest bit of pink to her cheeks to simulate blush. He went to her lips next and made them scarlet. Next were the eyes, and he spent even longer mixing four different kinds of blue to get the cerulean he wanted. The odd thing was that he didn’t use a gradient to give the eyes highlights, they were just flat blue once he got the color right.

When he came to the hair he layered a light yellow on a pastel pink on a brighter yellow. Afterwards he went in with white to add highlights and black for her hair ties. He did her eyebrows last and seemed to get a little anxious. He even used his nails to scrape away part of it so he could fix it. 

When he was done he put the two sheets of paper side by side and scrutinized them for a moment. He nodded to himself and turned them around so that the others could judge them. 

Right away Kirigiri knew that the “Muku-chan” Naegi was talking about was actually Ikusaba Mukuro. What he drew was close to the picture from the profile. She could now also confirm her suspicions that the Enoshima they met was not who she claimed to be. She couldn’t be now that they knew what she was supposed to look like and put it side by side with Ikusaba’s drawing. 

“See, that’s how you draw Enoshima! She doesn’t have freckles like Muku-chan does, her eyes are blue and soulless, and her hair is more pink.” Naegi explained as he pointed to each feature.

“W-why call her soulless?” Fukawa asked.

Naegi didn’t miss a beat.

“ _She’s a massive bitch._ ”

Hiro choked on his own saliva.

Hina spluttered and gasped.

Togami recoiled in shock.

Kirigiri stared silently with wide eyes.

Fukawa snorted.

Not once in their time at Hope’s Peak Academy had they heard Naegi swear. And he wasn’t even done.

“She always treated Mukuro terribly, like mentally and emotionally abused her at the very least. She liked to ruin people’s lives and she never got caught ‘cause she was really pretty and really smart. She got away with pushing me down the stairs once by saying that she thought it would help me get my quirk. That’s not even the worst of it! She’s cruel and terrible and terrifying!”

By the time he ended his rant, Naegi was trembling a little and blinking back tears at the memories.

There was a short moment of silence after his outburst.

“W-well, she’s not gonna do any of that anymore,” Fukawa commented.

It seemed to be the right thing to say, as morbid as it was. Naegi wiped away the tears that sprung up and muttered.

“I sure hope not…”

That was a curious response.

“Do you think she’ll come back as a ghost or something?” came Hiro’s paranoid question.

“It’s Enoshima,” was Naegi’s response, “as if eternal damnation would be enough to stop her.”

There it was again. Even the least observant among the groups had noticed. One moment Naegi’s a child in mind and body that needs comfort, the next he seems serious and mature in a way that contradicts his physical appearance.

To test a theory, Kirigiri asked, “What else did you draw?”

As suspected, he brightened considerably and almost bounced out of his chair to show her some of his less skilled drawings. 

“I drew a whole bunch of stuff! I drew Taeko-chan in a crown and Leon-kun with a guitar! I think they deserve to have their dreams come true somehow!” 

The nicknames were back, along with the child-like mindset and mannerisms. The shift was more obvious than before, everyone noticed.

Whether this was part of his quirk or just his way of coping with his trauma (in a broad sense and when just looking at his execution) they couldn’t know. What mattered was just how much would change because of it.

Sure, Naegi was still capable of the quick deductions and keen observations they relied on him for. The problem was that he was now easier to scare and distract than before, both things the mastermind would no doubt take advantage of if given the opportunity.

So, when Hina started asking questions as he drew, they watched for cues and triggers.

“Is that your sister?”

A simple question spoken energetically.

“Mhmm, Maru’s my little sister! Or maybe she’s my big sister now? I don’t know how that would work.”

An equally energetic answer and a confused head tilt in response. 

“Do you miss her?”

A loaded question spoken softly and seriously.

“All the time. But I know she can handle herself, and she wouldn’t want me wasting time worrying when I could be doing something to change things.” 

A serious and thoughtful response.

“What did you like to do for fun when you were little?”

An obvious change in topic, lighthearted.

“I grew up with Ace Attorney, which is kinda funny since mama was a prosecutor. But I also like rhythm games! I’m really good at laser tag too, but Maru’s better at it. Like, a lot better.” 

A lighthearted response and no hesitation at the sudden switch.

“What about your dad?”

A general question.

“There’s not much to say, he worked a lot. He was an accountant I think? It was some kind of desk job.”

A flippant response that was neither here nor there.

“Do you really think we’ll get out of here?”

An obvious change in topic, heavy.

“Why would you want to?”

_What?_

The response was equal parts curiosity and confusion, entirely genuine.

“It’s what we’ve been working towards this entire time!” Hiro exclaimed.

“You mean y-you’d stay here with that th-thing?” Fukawa asked sharply.

He blinked in surprise at their reactions before fidgeting with a crayon.

“We’re not s’pposed to leave though,” Naegi muttered, eyes averted and posture timid.

This was new. The entire time it was the teenage persona that expressed complex negative emotions. Sure the child got mad or sad, but he didn’t express longing or reluctance.

“Why aren’t we supposed to leave?” Kirigiri asked.

“Um, the adults said so,” Naegi replied hesitantly.

And there it was.

“Which adults?” Togami asked, dreading the response.

The response was almost a whisper: “I don’t remember.” Naegi curled up a little, wings unfolding a bit to cradle him, as if waiting for punishment.

The point where the child limited the teen. Where the simple ideals and rules that were forced into every child’s head drowned out everything else.

_The adults are always right. Don’t talk back to the teacher. Always respect your elders. Always follow the rules. Don’t question your parents._ **_Do as you’re told._ **

**_Or else._ **

The sight of him, filled with guilt and maybe even a bit of self-loathing as he sat there waiting for a reprimand, was heart wrenching.

Of course they wanted answers, but they didn’t expect him to have all of them. He knew that, right?

“It’s okay if you d-don’t know,” Fukawa stated gently.

“But I did know! I just— I can’t.” He tried to blink back his tears, face red with frustration.

Just as someone was about to reach out and console him… 

“ _What the fuck is wrong with me?_ ”

… everything got worse.

His voice was so raw, so pained, that they knew it wasn’t just this one lapse in memory he was talking about. This breakdown was a long time coming.

His wings enveloped him completely as he curled up and _wailed_. He trembled with the force of his sorrow, his grief, his helplessness.

Hina ran from the room the moment the breakdown started, leaving the others with a promise that she’d be back quickly.

Any attempt to approach him resulted in him curling up tighter. Words didn’t seem to reach him, no matter what was said. Just when they were starting to lose hope, they heard it.

A long, loud bird call.

Naegi immediately quieted and poked his head out to listen better. His eyes were wide and shone with tears and a fragile hope.

The call came again, a distinct sound that had Naegi racing from his chair in search of the source.

The reason became clear when he answered the third call with a shaky, “Mama!”

It was a canary’s call. 

When they stepped out into the hall they found him clinging to Hina. In her hands was a small, bird-like glass flute filled with water.

When she blew into the glass again, this time creating a few shorter chirps, Naegi responded in kind. He clung to her tightly and took comfort in the flute’s sound. Hina wiped away some of his tears and he nuzzled her.

A crisis avoided, for now. She slowly led him back into the room and helped him pack away his drawings and the supplies in the backpack she had brought with her. 

Apparently the flute had been one of Naegi’s possessions that she’d stumbled across after tucking his spare clothes into said backpack. It came with a little booklet that explained which marked water level would produce which birdsong.

Who knows how the situation would’ve been handled without the water flute. 

Hina slung the backpack over her shoulder and picked up the emotionally exhausted child. He seemed warmer than normal as he slung his arms around her neck. He shifted his arms away from her gills.

The two left the library, presumably so Naegi could turn in early. The others stayed behind, Kirigiri turning over the recent revelations made.

The first being that, somehow, Naegi was familiar with Ikusaba. This was strange enough by itself, but what made it more significant was that he hadn’t recognized her before he died. She doubted she’d get much out of him if she asked, and she was hesitant to do so anyways because of the meltdown he’d had.

This led to the second revelation. Someone had told Naegi that they should not leave the school. The obvious conclusion was that the person behind it all had threatened him, but it didn’t add up. Naegi made it sound like there were multiple people involved. She would have to be careful when asking for clarification.

With her thoughts settled she decided that the conversation they’d been having in the Archives could wait. Clearly there was still more to learn. Going after the mastermind with all those loose ends was just begging for disaster to strike.


	3. Revenge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last thing I have written out. After this it’s gonna be forever and a half til the next one comes.

It seemed like the incident from the day before had slipped the child’s mind. He was as bubbly and bright as he always was. After helping Hina with the dishes from breakfast, Naegi walked right up to Kirigiri and tapped her forearm lightly.

“Um, is it okay if we spend some time together?” Naegi asked hesitantly.

This was new. He and Hina were usually attached at the hip, even before the execution.

“Of course, what would you like to do?”

“I wanna go see the girls!” Naegi exclaimed.

“The girls?” Kirigiri repeated, her confusion evident.

“The hens, silly. I was super worried about how they were doing when one was killed. They’re still really shaken up about it, but they’re getting better.”

Of course Naegi would be there to comfort the chickens after they lost one of their own. She should’ve guessed.

“We can go right now, then.”

Naegi gave a happy chirp and all but dragged her to the stairs after he took her hand. Several flights of stairs did nothing to mitigate his excitement.

He rushed down the hall to the garden and zeroed in on the chicken coop. The moment he got close to it, then hens inside started to cluck loudly and call out to him.

He opened the door to the coop and was swarmed by three loud hens. He giggled as one settled next to him, another tried to preen his wings, and the last one pecked at his backpack straps. 

“Geez, give a guy some warning next time!” Naegi chuckled good-naturedly as he swung his backpack off.

The trio of hens all gathered in front of him as he dug out a bag of birdseed. He zipped up his backpack and held out a hand full of seed for them to consume while he spoke.

“I know I look different, but that’s because I finally got my quirk! Kinda sucks that I had to die to get it. And I’m not even entirely sure how it works because I was, y’know, dead.”

His tone was joking, but the three hens stopped eating immediately and started to nuzzle and preen him. They comforted him with soft clucks and cooed.

“You’re all so sweet. Oh, speaking of which, I brought Kyoko here! You remember her from yesterday and the week before, right?”

The hens gave a brief glance in her direction before collectively saying something that made Naegi blush. That was enough reason for Kirigiri to enter the conversation.

“Can you actually understand them?”

“Somewhat. It’s mostly an empathy thing. For a while I thought understanding the emotions of birds was my quirk, but the specialist said it hadn’t manifested. She can identify a person’s quirk and what it does once it’s done developing. So I could kinda talk to birds, but it didn’t seem right to make that my official quirk if it was gonna change.”

After his explanation, Naegi absentmindedly shoves a handful of birdseed into his own mouth to chew on. Kirigiri really shouldn’t have been as surprised as she was to see that.

She sat down a foot or so away from him, one of the hens keeping them apart. As she pondered the questions she wanted to ask, Naegi fed the hens.

“Are you feeling better?” It seemed as good a place to start as any, she mused.

“Yeah, actually. Everything’s a little less intense now.”

“Could you explain?”

He shifted a little, one of the hens all but settling in his lap.

“I still haven’t come to terms with the fact that I actually, y’know. But I know that I’m more scared of what it felt like during that time than what happened before, in the barrel.”

The hens pressed closer and went quiet, listening just as intently as Kirigiri.

“I couldn’t move, I couldn’t feel, I couldn’t see, I couldn’t hear, I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t do _anything_. One second there was pain, the next it was almost like I stopped completely. I didn’t even know how long I was like that. I just kinda blipped from existence into this nothingness and numbness.”

She wasn’t sure what to say in response. She didn’t get the chance to say anything.

“It was almost worse when I came back.”

“How so?” It pained her that she could do nothing to provide him with comfort.

“If before everything was so numb and empty, then after was so _intense and overwhelming._ I woke up to a burning feeling that made me wanna scream, but I couldn’t move yet. I was just on the ground feeling scratchy clothes and almost choking on the ashes in my lungs. Then I moved and everything _ached_ so bad. All the light and colors were almost blinding. I was so confused and scared, the empty nothing almost seemed better.”

At that, the hens started clucking like crazy, pecking at his clothes as if to scold him for saying that. 

“I know, I know. I’m glad I’m still here. I just wish my senses and emotions hadn’t been cranked to 11.”

The hens seemed satisfied and went back to preening him. Kirigiri wasn’t as easily convinced.

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

“I’m gonna have to be. Because whether we like it or not, we’re gonna have to face the mastermind. It’s a matter of when.”

His expression was serious when he finally met her gaze. It was then wiped away by a wince and an apologetic cluck from the hen behind him. He then got up to escape the fussing hens and brushed himself off. 

“And until then we’ll have to keep snooping around and doing what we can. That includes me learning if I can actually use these,” Naegi said while jabbing a thumb at his wings.

One of the hens flapped her wings frantically but happily. Naegi patted her on the head and promised he’d let her know how it went.

Kirigiri stood from the flat stone she’d been sitting on. Naegi grabbed her by the hand and led her out of the garden. 

“You intend to start learning today, then?”

“That’s the plan! I have a general idea of what to do, but I wanna find Hina first.”

The two then made the descent to the dorms. Hina was in her room looking for her keys when they arrived. 

“Oh, I think you might’ve stuffed them into my backpack,” Naegi said as he unzipped his backpack. 

Sure enough, Hina’s keys were on top of Naegi’s vast assortment of knickknacks and snacks.

“Why do you even have so much junk?” Hina asked as Naegi slid his arms through the straps and shifted his backpack in front of him.

“I’m a bird now, hoarding is part of the package along with nesting and preening and— oh! Hina, can I try flying?”

Naegi looked at her with such a pure and pleading gaze that they all knew what her answer would be before she even replied.

“Sure thing. We’ve just gotta make sure we’re careful about it. Can exactly see a specialist if you break a wing now, can we?” Hina asked rhetorically.

Naegi’s wings twitched and pressed further into his back. He was clearly aware of the possibility and it visibly instilled a fear of falling in him.

“I’ll be careful, promise.”

With that, Hina gave Naegi a pat on the head before snatching up a first-aid kit just in case.

The trio then headed towards the gym, bumping into Togami who decided he had to see this.

When they arrived at their destination, Hina immediately went to look for some mats to put down. Naegi pulled off his backpack and pulled out three picture books.

The first was a book on the anatomy of most birds, the second was about bird behavior, and the third was straight up about how birds fly.

He flipped through them and then explained, “I’m pretty sure I have high speed wings, which means I’ll have to flap my wings actively to keep going. I also don’t have tail feathers so I’ll have to compensate when I turn by over-adjusting. A lot goes into flying that most birds just do automatically, but I’ve gotta be ready in case I don’t.”

With the mats set up and Naegi bouncing on his heels, they decided to start. He took a bit of a running start with slightly unfolded wings before flapping to get a little off the ground. He got maybe a foot and a half off the ground before he hit the mat.

Hina rushed over to help him up, but he was already getting back up to try again. He got back to the opposite edge of the mat and took another running start, except this time he tried to glide a little first. He hit the mat even faster than last time.

“Okay, so I was right. I need to be active at least when I start out. Maybe if I was higher I could manage gliding.”

He then turned to look at the raised stage where the podium was. Hina was the first to react.

“Naegi, no!”

“Naegi, yes!”

He dragged the mats closer to the stage and climbed up the steps. His tiny body was filled to the brim with excitement. He took another running jump and spread his wings.

He almost cleared the gym with minimal flapping before having to flap awkwardly to stop. He managed to land on his feet this time, which was already a massive improvement.

Several hours and some nasty bruises later, Naegi had a decent grasp on how to turn and maintain his flight. Landings were still finicky, but that was to be expected.

He was beaming with pride as he landed in front of his friends. Hina wore a matching grin, the excitement contagious. 

He led them to the cafeteria for lunch, bouncing all the while. Toko was already there when they arrived, listening to Naegi gush about finally being able to fly. His wings flapped excitedly and his eyes sparkled, he looked unbelievably happy considering their circumstances.

He gasped, “I have to tell the hens!”

Hina put a hand on his head. “After lunch.”

He huffed and pouted but sat at the main table anyway.

He ate quickly but stopped when Hina gave him a pointed look. His wings twitched in anticipation.

When he was finally done and the dishes were put away, he shot towards the doorway and bounced on his heels as he waited for them to follow. 

He waited at the top of every stairwell as they followed him up. Kirigiri and Togami wanted to learn more about his quirk, Hina wanted to meet his friends, Toko followed her master, and Hiro got dragged along for the ride.

It was when they got to the top of the stairwell that they noticed he wasn’t excited anymore. He stood still not to wait for them, but instead because he was frozen is disbelief. Then his expression shifted towards the beginnings of grief.

“Naegi? What’s wrong?” Hina asked.

He ran again, this time in desperation. They were quicker to follow after him.

He skidded to a stop in front of the door, throwing it open and rushing in. They filled him closely but stopped in the doorway.

Naegi fell to his knees in one of the blood puddles. His tiny frame shook with grief as his eyes welled with tears. The three chickens were bleeding out on the ground. One was gruesomely disemboweled, another decapitated, and the third was stabbed in her guts. 

“No no no no no no no no, not _again_ ,” the child wailed.

Naegi’s tiny hands reached out from the third, cradling the chicken his lap. The others carefully crept towards the crime scene, circling around so they could see his front. 

His shirt was stained with chicken blood as he held the hen close, but he didn’t seem to notice. They weren’t sure what to say. There would be no investigation, no closure. The culprit was obvious. They simply stood by and watched him fall apart.

“No no no no no, you can’t die! Don't die! Please don’t leave me,” he sobbed.

The chicken was barely breathing, her chest rising and falling erratically. Naegi’s golden tears fell on her chest and stomach.

Then came the light. From her wounds poured a soft golden glow. The light spiraled out like a flower’s petals before folding inward and sewing the wound shut. 

The hen shifted in his lap, causing Naegi to open his eyes. He gasped as the hen lifted her head to look at him. A startled laugh bubbled it’s way out of his throat. He cradled the hen close despite the blood still coating them both.

([Art](https://pegasister60.tumblr.com/post/189392436304/more-art-for-my-fic-ashes-ashes))

The others were shocked by the miracle. 

“You have healing tears,” Togami stated.

Naegi jolted, as if he’d forgotten their presence. He let go of the hen in his lap and started rubbing the blood from her tummy feathers. Where a certainly fatal wound had been there remained only bloodied orange feathers. 

“I fixed your stab wounds?” He asked the hen, getting a confused head tilt and a few clucks in return.

“Can you heal the other ones?” Hiro asked hesitantly, wondering why he hadn’t throw himself at the other two.

Naegi’s confused relief became somber resignation.

“I could feel her panic. She was clinging to life, terrified that it was going to be the end. I couldn’t feel anybody else,” he explained.

“What a shame!”

Their eyes all simultaneously moved towards the bear that popped up next to them. 

“I cared for those chickens for weeks waiting for you all to get up here and they’re all gone after a week! Talk about a waste.”

Naegi slowly got up from his knees, his front covered in blood and his arms full of bird. He placed the hen on the ground next to the blood puddle, turning to face the group as a whole. 

His tiny body was trembling again, but it wasn’t from grief this time.

He was _pissed_.

Angry, normal tears chased the healing ones off his face as he stalked towards the monster. The hen seemed to almost cower as his presence grew.

When he spoke, there was something creeping into the edges of their hearing that sounded ancient, wild, _livid_. The finality in his tone sent fear into their hearts. They couldn’t even imagine what his expression looked like as he spread his wings and loomed over the mastermind’s vessel.

“ _This ends now._ ”


End file.
